Blue Dashboard Gauges?

[Beastolizer]

and luke, i had talked to a guy with an e30 over in the bellevue/crossroads area that had actually done a blue LED dashboard gauge swap, thats what kinda spurred my question of how easy is it to do it.

[smonkbmw]

to the OP do what you want. vw uses it, why not? alpina uses blue, but for gauge faces though.

bmw no longer uses red/amber lighting im assuming because of the popularity of white lighting i.e. lexus, mercedes uses the same.

there are multiple colors that reduce eye strain while driving at night. im experimented with a few personally while driving semi. i have green currently and its ok. while focusing on the road the color and brightness of the light does add some strain to the eyes. orange works very well. i have yet to experiment with blue or red. there is truth behind why red is used in low light situations, it doesnt strain the eyes and is a hard light to see from afar (in a tactical situation, obviously were not concerned about that here.).

[Fidhle007]

You could swap some blue LED 168's in to replace the fatory setup, but you would have to pull the amber lens from inside the instrument cluster.

Easy shit.

Luke

Easy peasy. That's how I did it.

That would probably screw up the light distribution in the cluster, though. That amber block is faceted to direct light onto the gauge faces.

Nah, if you're careful about your angles it works well. Watch my second vid posted above and you'll see that the gauges remain blue while the needles are still red.

[nando]

I've seen plenty or airplane cockpits with blue/green lighting. Personally, blue/green is much easier on my eyes then the red/amber found in BMW/Audi.

you're just an idiot, aren't you?

if you really wan't to do it, I'd just put LEDs in place of the stock bulbs, but any car i see with blue face gauges (especially an E30) I'm going to immediately assume rice. Sorry, it's just my natural reaction. ;)

[TDE30]

^ Que?

I agree about the rice factor with a blue-lit cluster, but how am I an idiot if blue/green lighting is easier on my eyes at night?

[nando]

because it can be scientificially proven that it isn't?

I thought you were well read? :roll:

[TDE30]

Cool. Go link me to said scientific findings.

[nando]

go find it yourself, you know how to use a search engine.

[TDE30]

Nah, that's fine, if you say there are scientific findings saying that amber light should be easier on my eyes while driving at night than green/blue lighting, I'll just take your word for it. I'll try to relay this information to my eyes to tell them they are wrong.

Thanks for the info.

[nando]

hey, ignorance is bliss, right?

[TDE30]

You tell me.

[Wiglaf]

Easy peasy. That's how I did it.



Nah, if you're careful about your angles it works well. Watch my second vid posted above and you'll see that the gauges remain blue while the needles are still red.

mind if I ask where to get the ELD's from? or did you have to solder em into the bulb sockets?

[StereoInstaller1]

There are replacement LED bulbs all over the web: http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html

Now I wonderabout amber LEDs...

[Wiglaf]

oh wow, the selection there has improved!! :D

Amber would look good too. Subtle color change that would never burn out. :)

[Cha Ching]

Then why do submarines use red lighting? And airplane control towers?

I'm no eye scientist or doctor, but here's what I've gleaned on this subject.

Red light is one of the shortest in the visible spectrum, which makes it ideal for low-light or dark conditions (like being in a submarine). Meaning, when you shift your gaze away from whatever is being lit with red lights, your eye does not lose any focus or perception in the surrounding area.

As for the other member who posted it's hard to see at distances which makes it ideal for tactical situations, he is also correct.

So, I guess there is some basis for saying red or amber lighting is, '...easier on the eyes...", but really in the right conditions.